


Silly

by chali



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-06 21:37:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17353052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chali/pseuds/chali
Summary: Everyone falls ill after exploring a strange planet. Well, almost everyone.--The Paladins and Coran contract a mysterious illness, and Allura is left alone to care for them all.





	Silly

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Worked to Exhaustion
> 
> I've noticed that I hardly ever write about Allura in any of my fics, and I now realise it's because I find it extremely difficult. Like, strangely difficult.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this fic nonetheless!

Allura snapped awake to the sound of vomiting. Again.

Biting back a sigh, she stood and turned around to see who it was this time.

_Ah. Lance._

The Blue Paladin was leaning over the side of the bed, just barely managing to aim for the basin Allura had left on the floor for him after the second time he had woken and vomited on his sheets. She went to him and sat on the edge of the bed as he continued retching painfully. After a few seconds he stopped and laid back with a groan. Allura patted his arm comfortingly and lifted the basin, nose wrinkling at the foul smell, balancing it on his lap. She gently brushed his damp hair back from his forehead as he smiled at her in weary thanks. Then another heave had him bent almost double, hands clutching the basin so tightly his knuckles were white, and she looked away.

She waited until the convulsions had stopped before moving the basin back to the floor and passing Lance the water pouch from the table next to his bed. His hands were shaking so much she had to help him hold it.

"Thanks, 'llura," he said in a raspy voice after taking a few small, hesitant sips. She smiled at him.

"Of course, Lance. Try to get some sleep. I'll be right back with a clean basin in case you feel sick again." She carefully lifted the vomit-filled container, pointedly avoiding looking at it or taking too-deep breaths. Lance laid back in the bed and tracked her movements with tired, red-rimmed eyes.

"Doubt there's anythin' left to come up, anyway," he said, smiling wryly. She only shook her head, and left him to get some sleep.

Allura took the basin to the sink at the far end of the medbay, emptying out its foul contents and rinsing it thoroughly. By the time she delivered it back to Lance's bedside, empty and clean and only slightly smelly, the boy was already asleep again, brow furrowed and face shiny with sweat. Allura sighed. Looking around the room, she noted that everyone else was in a similar state of restless slumber. She quietly retreated back to her seat at the end of the row of beds, and leaned her head against the back of the chair. She closed her eyes, already feeling sleep creeping in - and was woken almost immediately by a bout of violent coughing.

She bit her lip to stop the groan from escaping. She stood.

Pidge was convulsing with each hack, and jumped when Allura rested a gentle hand on her back. She looked up at her with teary eyes, and Allura smiled again, the action so automatic she wondered if it was even remotely believable anymore.

"Just let it out, Pidge," she said softly, soothingly. "Here, try to drink something. Small sips." She held the pouch to Pidge's lips, similarly to how she had helped Lance. The younger girl managed a small mouthful before her chest heaved again, and she coughed painfully into the crook of her elbow. She continued for a few long seconds, and was gasping for breath by the time the fit had finally passed. Allura held out the pouch again, and Pidge took another hesitant sip, before shaking her head and lying back again. She smiled her thanks, and opened her mouth to say something, and fell asleep again before she could say it.

Allura hadn't even turned away before the sound of more coughing filled the room. She couldn't hold back her sigh this time, ashamed at the irritation she just couldn't quite quell, as she hurried over to the Red Paladin's bedside. He was trying to sit, but Allura saw how his arms shook under the weight of his torso, and he quickly fell back onto the mattress. He eventually chose instead to turn onto his side and curl under the covers, and as Allura stood over his bedside and watched him, she couldn't help but think of how different he looked, wracked with illness. How small. How _vulnerable_.

She bit back her hatred for whatever sickness was ravaging her Paladins, and gently pulled on Keith's shoulder so that he was lying on his back again. His coughing had subsided somewhat, and was instead replaced with short, raspy breaths that had Allura wincing in sympathy. She pushed a hand under his back, doing her best to ignore how his whole body tensed at the contact, and carefully eased him up.

"What..." he murmured, the effort it was taking to open his eyes visible. "What's..."

"It's only me, Keith. It's Allura. I'm just helping you get a drink, to help with the cough. Here," keeping one hand on his back, she turned to retrieve the water pouch behind her. "Drink this. Slowly. Small sips." She lifted it to his mouth, and he lifted an arm to push it away, hitting his cheek lightly in the process.

"N-no... no. What-"

"Keith, please. I'm only trying to help. _Please_ , calm down-"

"No - Sh'ro... where's..." Allura bit her lip as she examined the distressed young man in front of her. His face was pale, and sweat was beading on his forehead merely from the exertion of sitting up and talking. He was struggling to keep his eyes open for longer than a few tics at a time, and when he did manage it his vision seemed to be so weak that he could barely even focus on Alura's face. She rubbed his back in what she hoped was a calming manner.

"Keith, it's alright. You're unwell. All of you are - you and the other Paladins. Even Coran."

"Sh-Shiro -"

"Shiro is just behind me, on the next bed. Look," she stepped back, and carefully turned Keith's head in the direction of the Black Paladin. Keith squinted as he struggled to follow her words and her gaze. He looked at Shiro, curled tightly on the bed, for a long moment, so long that Allura was beginning to wonder if he was even seeing anything at all, when he finally breathed a deep sigh of unmistakable relief and slumped heavily in her grip. She lifted the pouch to his lips again.

"Now, Keith, _please_ drink. You'll feel better, and it'll help you rest and recover." He tried to turn his head away, but when Allura's hand followed the movement he eventually relented and took a small sip. Then another. Then Allura had to move the pouch away to stop him from drinking too quickly and choking. She gently shushed his small noise of protest, and laid him back down. He turned his head in Shiro's direction again, and watched the other man until his eyes slid shut and returned to his fitful slumber. Allura sniffed, and made her rounds.

Lance, Pidge and Coran were still sleeping, and for that Allura thanked the stars. Hunk had turned over at some point, and knocked the blanket from his bed to the floor. Allura stooped to pick it up, and was laying it back across the Yellow Paladin when a clammy hand caught her wrist, startling her. She looked up and met Hunk's wide, wide eyes.

"H-Hunk, it's alright. It's alright, calm -"

"'rry... 'm sorry..." his eyes filled with tears, and Allura cupped his cheek in her hand as they spilled down his temples.

"Hunk, it's alright. It's not your fault. It's not your fault."

"I - it was - s-so - I'm sorry-" He was getting close to hyperventilating, and Allura tapped his cheek gently, bringing his eyes up to her own.

"Shh, it's alright. It's alright, Hunk, just breathe."

"'s so stupid. J'st - just - 'm sorry..."

"Hunk, breathe with me. Here," Allura pried his hand from her wrist and laid it on her chest, taking deep, exaggerated breaths and holding his panicked gaze until he began to copy her. Finally, she managed to calm him down, though he refused to cease apologising. His eyes closed, and she wondered if he had exhausted himself, when all of a sudden his chest heaved. Allura barely managed to lift the basin from where it lay beside her before he was vomiting, each retch shaking the whole bed. She held his shoulders tightly, muttering small words of comfort until he finished. As she took the basin from his shaking hands, he sobbed hoarsely.

"S-sorry-"

"Stop apologising, Hunk. Please. Listen to me," she took his chin in her hand and looked him in the eyes. "This is not your fault. I forbid you to blame yourself. Do you understand?" He sniffed, and nodded, and she smiled that strange, unreal smile again. She laid him back down, and left to rinse out the basin. Again.

Swaying slightly, Allura deposited the basin back by the sleeping Yellow Paladin's bed. She stood, and waited.

There was nothing else.

No more coughs, or vomiting, or pained, delirious muttering. Allura almost allowed herself to try for some sleep. Instead, she walked slowly and quietly to Coran's side. The older Altean was dreadfully pale, and sweat had soaked through the sheets covering his chest. Each breath was followed by a horrible rattle, and his eyes shifted restlessly behind his eyelids as he slept fitfully. Allura sighed, took his hand in her own, and rested her head against them.

She cautiously allowed herself some sleep as she waited for the peace to be interrupted.

* * *

It had been a seemingly harmless planet that they had stopped at, looking for a herb that Hunk had eaten at a space mall that he had sworn tasted like something called 'garlic'. All of the Paladins had gone down to explore, and Coran had accompanied them, to keep them right in what they were collecting. They had found the herb, and returned covered in dirt, sweat and bug bites, in much fouler moods than they had been in when they had left the Castle. They had gone to shower, with Coran ordering them to return to the medbay afterwards so that he could treat the bites, which had apparently been itching terribly.

The bites which, to everyone's horror, must have been carrying some sort of illness or parasite, as not even a varga had passed since their return before they were all delirious with fevers. Leaving Allura to care for all of them.

She had searched the Castle's data base as thoroughly as she could, and had eventually come to the conclusion that the illness was not fatal, and would pass within a movement or so, two at most. She had been filled with such relief at reading those words that she had wept, shoulders heaving with heavy sobs. Then she had composed herself, and had prepared herself, and had gone back to the medbay to begin her long, long watch.

That had been five quintants ago, and exhaustion was pulling heavily at her. She estimated she had gotten about eight vargas of fitful sleep overall since her Paladins had fallen ill. Her movements were growing increasingly sluggish, her mind working slowly and confusedly. She constantly felt on the brink of tears, and her hands were trembling constantly. But none of this bothered her when she noticed how much everyone else had improved.

Their fevers were slowly lifting. They were growing less delirious every time they regained consciousness. Keith and Shiro had even managed to force down a bowl of Allura's soup earlier that quintant, and it was yet to make another appearance. Things were improving, without a doubt.

 _Just a few more quintants_ , Allura reassured herself, as she sat down again by Coran's bed, eyelids drooping. _Just a few more quintants and they'll be well again._

Coran shifted, and coughed hoarsely, struggling to lift his hand to cover his mouth. Allura dipped a washcloth in the basin by his bed, and wrung it out before gently laying it across his forehead. Weary eyes opened slowly, and met her gaze. Coran smiled.

"Princess," he said, so gently, and so warmly, that Allura felt those silly tears filling her eyes again, spilling over her cheeks before she had time to blink them away. She tried to smile back at her dearest friend.

"How are you feeling, Coran?"

"Mm," he squinted his eyes and furrowed his brows as though he were giving his answer some serious thought. "Well, I feel rather wrung out, but not _quite_ as awful as I was before. I believe I have you to thank for that, eh, Princess?" He looked at her again, and concern filled his gaze. "Though I must say, Allura, you look pretty worn out yourself. Are you unwell, too?"

"No, Coran, I wasn't infected. I'm just a little tired is all, but I'll be fine. And so will you, and everyone else. Everything is going to be fine." She smiled, and it didn't feel quite as forced or exhausted or pained as her other ones. This one felt relieved, hopeful. Because it was true, everything _was_ going to be alright. Everyone was getting better, and soon this whole mess would be behind them.

Of course, it was right as she reassured herself of this that the Castle shook, struck by something, and the alarms began blaring.

Allura was on her feet in an instant, dropping Coran's hand, and was about to sprint to the control room when she heard a scuffle and a thump behind her. She turned to see Shiro's bed empty, the man lying in a heap on the floor, tangled in his sweat-soaked sheets as he fought to find his feet. Allura stood for a moment, unsure, urgency building in her and rapidly turning into panic. She made up her mind when Shiro tried to use the bed as leverage to help him stand, and only ended up faceplanting into the mattress instead.

Allura rushed to his side and helped him stand. He looked at her with haunted eyes.

"Attack?" He muttered, quiet voice dripping with dread. "Are we under attack?" Allura used her strength and his lack thereof to her advantage as she maneuvered him back into the bed. The Castle shook again, and Allura bit her lip. "Are we-"

"I don't know, Shiro," Allura said, straining to keep her own panic from seeping into her voice. She quickly threw Shiro's duvet back over his body, and turned to leave. "I'll go see what's happening. Just stay here and rest-"

"No!" Shiro moved to follow her, and she just about growled at him in frustration.

"Shiro, _please_. You're ill, you won't be any help-"

"I-I can't - this is - we're under attack, I can _fight_. They - the Galra aren't g-getting them. _Not them_. I can-"

"I promise, Shiro, I won't let the Galra get them. I _promise_ , so please-" he wouldn't cease his attempts to follow her, his legs once again getting tangled. Allura grabbed his face in her hands and met his teary, terrified eyes. "Shiro, I promise I won't let the Galra get them, or you. I need to go and see to the Castle's defenses, and I need _you_ to stay here and watch over your team. Understand? They're right here. They need you here, too." Shiro looked at her, then around the room, at the other Paladins.

Pidge and Hunk were awake, too, but looked far too confused to make any attempts to escape. Keith remained unconscious, and Coran merely looked resigned. Allura felt Shiro relax in her grip, and when she firmly pushed him back against his pillow he went willingly. She turned to Coran, and he nodded, wordlessly promising to keep an eye on everyone while Allura took control of the situation. She nodded her quick thanks and bolted from the medbay.

She entered the control room to the sight of an unfamiliar ship in front of the Castle, its guns trained on them. Allura gritted her teeth, debating whether or not she should try hailing them. They fired again, the Castle shaking violently as the laser collided with its shield, and she made up her mind. She directed the Castle forward.

And kept it moving forward.

The other ship held its ground for a long few doboshes, still firing despite the clear futility of the action, before its crew seemed to realise Allura's intention, and turned tail. It made it out of the Castle's path just in time to avoid being shattered by the larger ship, and Allura used all the strength she could muster to form a wormhole, which she promptly directed the Castle through.

As soon as it was closed behind her, she turned and started back to the medbay - but a wave of dizzying nausea sent her crashing to her knees. She pressed a hand over her mouth, and squeezed her eyes shut against the pounding in her head. Then her arm collapsed under her, and she collapsed to the ground. Darkness claimed her.

* * *

Awareness came back slowly.

"... disgusting, Hunk. Seriously, what even..."

"... said it was an Altean delicacy, he... so shut up."

" _Both_ of you shut up. You're going to wake Allura."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause you're being real quiet yourself there, mullet."

"Guys, please."

Allura opened her eyes, and watched them all, sitting around her.

Coran, his hands wrapped around one of her own, had his head resting beside her legs, and was fast asleep, snoring softly. Shiro was seated next to him, watching Lance and Keith argue with each other on the opposite side of the bed with a look of amused resignation on his face, all traces of terror gone. Pidge was also watching them, looking decidedly bored by their antics. Hunk was bent over a steaming tub of something, a vaguely concerned expression on his face.

"I'm not the one who's shouting, Lance."

"I'm not shouting, either!"

"Yeah, you kind of are, Lance."

"Wha - Pidge, you aren't even a part of this discussion, okay. Back off."

"Guys, I mean it, keep it down."

"Sorry, Shiro."

"Mullet started it!"

_"Guys!"_

Allura chuckled before she could stop herself, and everyone fell silent. They all looked at her, shock quickly being replaced with joyous relief, and she found herself smiling widely back at them. Keith broke the silence first with a smug smirk at Lance.

"Told you you'd wake her."

_"Shut it!"_

"Allura!" Pidge sprang off her seat at the foot of the bed and crawled across it until she could hug the princess tightly. Allura slowly raised her heavy arms to return the hug, surprised by the rare show of fondness from the Green Paladin. Hunk sniffed loudly.

"I - we were so worried, princess," he raised his hands to rub at his eyes, and Keith just barely managed to catch the tub before it slid to the floor. "You were asleep for a long time."

"Ho-" Her breath caught in her dry throat, and suddenly she was coughing, bent almost double on the bed. She heard the Paladins exclaim, and felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked up, absurdly half-expecting to see herself, wearily taking care of her sick family - it was Coran. He was looking at her with such a kind, kind expression that she felt tears spring to her eyes. _So silly_ , she thought, as she gratefully accepted the water pouch he was offering to her. As she sipped it carefully, trying and failing to compose herself, the Paladins settled back into the chairs around her bed, their faces still painted with concern and mild alarm. She took another sip and spoke again when her throat no longer tickled.

"Sorry about that. I'm quite alright, really. I expect it was the energy from opening the wormhole that did it-"

"I don't think so, princess," Coran said gently. He reached out and took her hand again, clasping it between his larger ones. "You wore yourself out quite a bit, taking care of all of us. We owe you a great deal of thanks. I don't know what would have happened to us if you hadn't watched over us so diligently."

"That's hardly-"

"Coran is right, Allura," Shiro said, smiling. "We're sorry that it took such a toll on you, but - thank you." Pidge rested a hand on the blanket covering her leg, and nodded, the other three mirroring the action. Allura felt the tears in her eyes spilling over her cheeks, and smiled back at them all. _So silly._

"You're all so silly," she said. "Of _course_ I looked after you. What else would I have done for my family?" Hunk and Lance sniffed rather exaggeratedly, and Keith's face had a strange expression that Allura couldn't quite make sense of. Pidge squeezed her ankle before standing and turning to the boys.

"Okay, let's go. Allura needs sleep. Move." She made shooing motions with her hands. Keith stood quickly, and gave Allura a tight smile before leaving. Hunk turned to leave as well, but caught sight of the box Keith had left on his chair. He picked it up and held it out to Allura almost bashfully.

"Uh, Coran said that this was something of an Altean delicacy, and I, uh... well, I gave it my best shot. I'm not sure how it's turned out. Thank you, princess, for everything." Allura took the box, and smelled the sweet aroma that took her back to warm afternoons spent picnicking in fields of juniberry flowers with her mother and father, and felt her smile widen almost painfully.

"And thank _you_ , Hunk. It smells like home." His face split into a wide grin, and he held his head high as he left the room. Which left Lance.

"... c'mon, Pidge, she's been sleeping for ages - I just wanna chat for a while, make sure she's okay-"

"No, Lance. Let's go. You'll exhaust her even more with all your nonsense, honestly!"

"After everything she's done for us-"

"Move, Lance, I swear to god-"

"I'll talk to you soon, Allura!" Lance called as Pidge used all the strength her newly recovered body possessed to shove him out of the room. The door closed behind them, and it was silent for a moment. Allura felt her exhaustion keenly, and against her will a yawn escaped her mouth. She felt the box of food being carefully pried from her hands, and her shoulders being pushed back onto the bed. She wondered at how suddenly roles could be reversed. She opened her eyes to look at Coran and Shiro, still sitting resolutely by her side.

"Just rest, Allura," her Black Paladin said softly. "It's our turn to look after you."

"We'll be here when you wake up again, dear." Coran added. Allura smiled and smiled and smiled, and wondered how she had ended up so lucky as to end up with a family as wonderful as this after so much tragedy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and, again, I hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is greatly appreciated, and if you want to request something else from my Bad Things Happen Bingo card, you can find it on my Tumblr - cha-lii


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